Sunset Hearts Reloaded
by Lady Valtaya
Summary: After a VERY long haitus... Set after Kingdom Hearts II, Sora and Riku are about to do it all again.
1. At Sunset

**Disclaimer**: I really don't own anything worth taking, so don't bother to sue me for this. Square Enix and (or) Disney owns absolutely everything in here that I can think of…

**Author's note**: I posted this story on and Mediaminer years ago. But the muses and plot bunnies that helped me write it never completely left me alone. That's why I'm putting it back up here after way too much editing. But instead of Sora/Kairi, the story will eventually be Riku/Sora.

In other news, I'll be staying as close as I can for the Kingdom Hearts II for the background info in this story.

Sunset Hearts- Reloaded

Chapter 1

Tonight, the sunset was just as exquisite as those he remembered growing up, and Sora really _was_ still glad to be home. Especially since he had found both Riku and Kairi and they were both with him almost all of the time. But for the moment he was glad to be alone… right now, his heart was millions of miles beyond the Destiny Islands… He thought of all the friends he'd made on at least a dozen different worlds and he smiled as he always did. All things considered, he'd been very lucky to have so met so many interesting people, his only regret was that Riku and Kairi had been able to meet so few of them.

It had only been a whole year already, and tonight Sora was restless as he looked out over the seemingly endless expanse of water that surrounded his island home… How were his friends doing now that the doors between the worlds had been closed again? He wanted to see Donald and Goofy and the King again, but he was glad that they had all gotten some rest from the constant fighting that had become so normal for all of them...

He reached into his pocket and smiled as he took out a small purple card. 'Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee Honorary Member, Sora.' It read. How was their massive rebuilding effort coming along? He knew that Leon and the others were determined to set things right and he knew they could it, but he couldn't help wishing he could see it for himself… Would Jack Sparrow ever straighten out like Will- no. Even as he thought about it, Sora laughed, it was more likely that Will would get a little less serious and more adventurous like Jack, actually... Had the Beast and Belle managed to break the spell?... Was Prince Eric really going to marry Ariel, even though she was a mermaid?... And what about Auron, what was he up to now?

Sora focused on the Keyblade, and smiled when it appeared in his hand as Fenrir. He had half forgotten that this was the last keychain he had used on it. He studied the bold edges of the powerful sword carefully, by far this keychain created the biggest and the heaviest incarnation of all the Keyblades he possessed. It was a fierce looking weapon just because of its size and weight, and it was phenomenal how hard it hit things with every strike, but that wasn't the only reason he liked it…

It reminded him of Cloud's great sword but it had been a gift from Tifa that alone was enough to make him hope that someday Cloud's quest would be over and he would be able to go home with the girl who had been so determined to find him... Sora still remembered watching the creepy one winged Angel attack the unarmed Tifa, luckily she had been alert enough to keep dodging until Cloud had distracted Sephiroth by getting in his way… but one thing had been made brutally clear- the two men had a terrible score to settle, and Cloud hadn't liked seeing Tifa get caught up in it...

"I guess your light found you, didn't she, Cloud?" Sora said softly, looking down at the ground beyond the massive cutting edge on Fenrir.

"Talking to yourself or the sky, Sora?" Riku asked, sitting down beside him on the trunk of the bent palm tree.

"No… not really, I was just thinking about some friends," Sora shrugged.

"You actually met someone named _Cloud_? Where did you manage to do that?"

"Well, Cloud got sent back to life from the Underworld by Hades to fight my friend Hercules to the death, but his heart wasn't in it and he lost. Even though he was supposed to kill my friend, I liked Cloud. Anyway later on herr showed up at Hollow Bastion- err I mean Radiant Garden right before the Heartless invaded it full force and he helped us defend it. Then he hung around for a while afterward because he sensed that this guy named Sephiroth was there and…"

"Sephiroth?" Riku interrupted. "I thought… hmm…"

"You know him?" Sora stared at him for a moment. "Did you meet Sephiroth too?"

"Hell no. We never met him, but DiZ- I mean Ansem the Wise thought for a while that Xemnas was afraid of someone named Sephiroth… He thought that was why the organization tried to invade all those worlds so hurriedly that I had to go and try to stop them myself. We thought they were trying to finish creating Kingdom Hearts as fast as they could before this mysterious Sephiroth guy showed up again and just killed them all… See, Namine told Ansem that Xemnas tried to recruit someone named Sephiroth to the organization- by forceand she said that the leader of the nobodies _lost_. But, man, DiZ and I looked everywhere and we never saw the guy or heard anything else about him so we sort of figured that maybe Namine was wrong or something… Wait a minute you said did I meet him _too_- Sora, you mean this Sephiroth guy really exists?"

"Yeah, we talked to him a bunch of times he's a little taller than Cloud, has long hair that's silver and he carries _the _longest sword I've ever seen. He looks kinda creepy though, because his eyes are a weird shade of ice blue and they glow. Plus, he has one big black feathered wing on his back- like he's some sort of a morbid angel… He's got incredible magic and deadly combos with that sword too. Cloud told us that Sephiroth is the embodiment of his darkness and Sephiroth never exactly denied it when we ran into him..."

"What do you mean?"

"It was weird talking to Sephiroth. Half of the time he didn't really seem to be talking to us as much as just sort of thinking out loud. Even right after he attacked me he casually turned back around and pretty much ordered me to go find Cloud for him like he thought I was some sort of a slave." Sora rolled his eyes, amazed that such a small memory still annoyed him the way it did. "Cloud was a real loner and we never really talked a whole lot, but I liked him anyway. It's weird, but lately, I can't shake the feeling that I'll see him and everyone else again soon- but that's impossible, isn't it? I mean the doorways between the worlds are really closed now- aren't they?"

Riku shrugged. "I thought so, but, if there's one thing I've noticed, it's that these 'feelings' of yours tend to be pretty accurate, Sora. You have good instincts even though you're a bit slow at following them sometimes. I came out here because I wanted to know what wrong- why you were holding the Keyblade. Is it just that he gave you that one?"

Sora smiled, looking down at Fenrir again. "Cloud did give me a cool one at the Coliseum last year, but I lost it somehow along with all the others when I got put to sleep for that year- this one was a present from Tifa, actually. She had been following Cloud and she finally found him while he was fighting with Sephiroth. Talk about lousy timing. When I first met Cloud he told me he was looking for his light- and I know after the way he protected her that he meant Tifa That's what I was thinking about before..."

"Say, did you ever share the star fruit with Kairi?"

Sora shook his head. "No, I didn't- I mean it just never seemed like a good time to bring it up."

"I see…" Riku grinned, and leapt to his feet. "Come on; let's spar. That is, if you think you can still lift that thing you're holding."

"Sure, but I wouldn't worry about _my_ skills if I were you. You were there when this sword knocked Xemnas off of his pedestal, ya know." Sora shot back, taking a better grip on Fenrir's pommel.

Riku nodded, sliding into his fighting stance against the fading light of the sunset. "Maybe this time you're the one who needs to be knocked down a few pegs…"

"Sora! Riku!" The two boys turned to see Kairi running toward them across the bridge waving her arms.

"What is it?" Sora asked, he released the magic that had drawn Fenrir to his hand and moved to her side as she stopped to catch her breath.

"The door- the one that was down in the cave…it's back and I-" Kairi gasped out. "I just heard something on the other side rattling it like they are trying to break it down!"

"What? Stay here, Kairi."

"Not on your life, Sora. I've already lost you twice; I'm not taking that chance again. I'm not going to let you two have all the fun either. Besides we'll be stronger together, we can help each other this time; I know we can!"

"Hang on. Let's go check out that old door first," Riku shrugged, "It might not go anywhere at all…"

"It _does_ go somewhere," Sora shook his head slowly. "I was warned about that door before we ever left the island on our first adventure… As long as the Keyblades continue to answer our summons that has to mean there is still danger out there for them to fight against. And Yen Sid told us that the worlds themselves are the ones that create the doors for the Keyblades to open. The worlds always seem to sense the danger before we do so if that door is back, then there must be a reason…"

The Keyblades appeared in Riku and Sora's hands, and the two of them formed a protective circle around Kairi as several dozen of the heartless moved in to surround them... The ant like creatures seemed to be coming from everywhere- across the small bridge and the sands around it.

With the two of them fighting, it was over in only a few minutes. They were only shadows, after all. But Riku just looked at his Keyblade. "So it's really true… we either missed a door somewhere or there is a new enemy out there…"

"I knew that Maleficent is probably still around too, but I was really hoping that she and Pete might have lightened up a little… I mean, they actually _did_ sort of help us out a few times…"

"No, you really _can't_ trust her, Sora... ever." Riku said quietly, looking away from them. "I let her have so much power over me that I almost killed both of my best friends for a plan I never even liked! I didn't want to say anything in front of King Mickey, but I know what a manipulative bitch she is. She helped us because it suited her own plans."

"Ok, I guess you know her better than anyone," Sora sighed.

The three of them walked along the beach, but then paused at the mouth of the small cave, and Sora and looked at Kairi. "Hey, are you sure you want to come with us?"

"I'll go anywhere you do, Sora. We made a promise, remember?"

Sora nodded. "Yeah, I remember."

"Then I won't be afraid," She said softly. "Even if we get separated again, because I know you always keep your word."

"Gawd! Let me out of here preferably _before_ I get sick..." Kairi grinned, hugging Riku before he could move away from them though.

"Best friends have to stick together," she told him, smiling. "Even when they are mysterious and secretive about it like you were. Just don't forget that you can depend on us too, okay?"

"That's right," Sora grinned. "It's what friends are for!"

Riku just rolled his eyes and grumbled something they couldn't quite catch as he walked into the tiny cave.

Kairi giggled softly as she followed Riku into the cave. "Come on!"

"Sora! You better come take a look at this!" Riku called.

**Author's Note**: One should never try editing all night long... But I did! XD


	2. Dark Summons

Chapter 2

It was amazing- how one ordinary looking door could ever hide so much trouble…

Still, Sora supposed that just given the sheer amount of effort that something had put into clawing those giant slashes through it; maybe they should have been more alert for trouble.

But still, he wouldn't ever have expected to find Maleficent so soon. He also hadn't expected to loose Kairi so soon again either, he thought dismally. Everything had been fine until the three of them had stepped across the threshold of the doorway, into pure blackness and mysteriously fallen unconscious.

Sora had awakened still in the darkness to find that he and Riku were surrounded by at least fifty small, ugly creatures with crude weapons and armor and very little in the way of brains. Still, since the snorting pig like creatures had taken Kairi prisoner and she was firmly chained to the chamber's back wall, the two warriors had not attacked them.

An unusually fierce and cunning looking heartless stood behind the smaller creatures. It had an armored body and stood all of 20 feet tall and it was holding a dagger that was almost as big as Cloud's sword at Kairi's throat while she was asleep.

A strange looking raven with glossy black feathers and unusually intelligent dark eyes landed lightly on the dagger blade that was resting along Kairi's throat and squawked at them. The bird hopped around inquisitively, looking at them, stretching its wings, and cawing restlessly.

"Well, it looks like it wants us to follow it," Riku said.

"Yeah… but Kairi! We can't just leave her here!"

"I don't like it either. But if Maleficent wanted her dead now then she would be. There's no telling how long we were out, Sora, but if it was long enough for her to summon _that,_ then believe me we will get her killed if we attack them all right now. I've been here before, we need to be careful. This is Maleficent's home world, Sora; her magic is at its strongest here, and she knows it. We have to play by her rules, at least until we can even the odds a little."

"I know," Sora sighed. "But I don't have to like it."

Riku nodded, and then he turned to the bird. "Alright, take us to her."

With a last glare at the giant heartless guarding Kairi, Sora followed Riku and the strange raven out of the stone room. It led them into a long hall that was flanked on each side by more of the heavy wooden doors at regular intervals- each of them were locked but the other cells all seemed to be empty. Finally they went under a giant stone archway and the dark hall became a staircase that went up. At the top of the staircase, another huge stone archway greeted them, though this one appeared to be crumbling under its own weight. A massive set of wood and iron doors opened for them and Sora gaped at the huge room on the other side.

It wasn't completely without a roof although- most of it was on the floor all around them, and most of its walls gave no clue as it how high up the ceiling once reached. The once great hall sported only one piece of furniture. A single high backed black chair stood empty at the top of a huge stone dais that wrapped around the back of the huge room offering a view of the round chamber below it, where Sora and Riku were walking.

The center of room was filled with a bonfire made out of enough wood to have once been a small forest. But the fire itself was what had caught Sora's eye. The dancing flames were the same green and black flame like energy that Maleficent always commanded with her magic, and the giant pyre had no heat- none at all that Sora could feel as they got closer.

"Watch this," Riku nodded over at the flames. They shouldn't have been able to get within thirty feet of a blaze that big without being uncomfortably hot. But before Sora could protest, he saw Riku put his hand into the fire and pulled out one of the pieces of wood. Riku's hand came out unscathed, but the small branch continued to burn, even as he held it. Crackling and twisting as it slowly turned black and then silver with an overcoat of ash.

"How?" It was all Sora could think of to say when Riku gave it to him and grinned.

"It's magic, remember?" Riku reminded him. "Come on, our guide is getting impatient though."

Sora nodded and then dropped the still burning twig on the stone floor and rubbed his ash covered hand against his pant leg.

At the end of the giant room waited the remains of another huge set of double doors, each was permanently knocked off of the giant hinges that had once held them up. Now their great bulk was only saved from lying flat by the rubble that littered the doorway on each side of them, cracking the once elegantly tiled floors of the foyer as well.

Beyond the foyer waited the overgrown court yard gardens of the shattered castle. Nothing seemed to be alive in the gardens at all; the fountain was a murky pool of black water that even insects wouldn't go near. The vines that had choked the life out of the flower beds had died long ago; now all that was left were the dry, brittle remains of the thorny plants.

Once the vast, ancient fortress must have been an awe inspiring sight, but as Sora looked around at the crumbling relic he shivered. It was covered in carvings and statues of legendary monsters. Even the few towers that managed to remain standing looked rickety and forlorn against the dark, restless sky of swirling black storm clouds. To the left the gloomy remains of another part of the castle rose skyward. The walls and towers were all slowly coming down too so there was nothing about it that promised the stately elegance and grandeur of Beast's Castle about that area either.

"It was beautiful once," Maleficent's voice was soft and so thoughtful that Sora found he was more curious than angry as he turned around to see her standing behind them. Her slanted amber eyes were luminous against the darkness of the gathering storm clouds. "This is what it looked like more than a thousand years ago."

Before Sora or Riku could stop her a huge wave of green and black fire, ten feet tall, and ten feet across swept out in an ever widening spiral from the dark sorceress. And in its wake the perfectly manicured gardens, the shattered stonework, the statues, the towers and the windows and the rooftops of every structure in the castle were restored to their former glory in an instant. Banners with strange symbols that Sora had never seen before decorated the walls and the battlements at regular intervals and the standards of the various knights that once would have defended the giant fortress were situated near the unlit braziers of the castle's many signal fires. Even the stone work itself seemed to take on a polished look, now more of a slate colored blue grey than blackened and forgotten by time.

"What happened to it?" Sora heard himself ask.

"I fell in love- and I learned the hard way that love _isn't_ always true," She growled in a low, dangerous voice. She turned to look at them though and she smiled wickedly. "I really ought to thank him; I have thoroughly enjoyed grinding what was once _our_ kingdom into a dusty, lifeless tomb for him. And as I did, I gained powers that are usually reserved for gods. Eventually, the last bricks of our castle will be buried under the sands of time, and the last of the pathetic, mindless orcs that were once my husband's loyal guards will cease to exist but this place will never live again."

A huge bolt of lightning struck one of the distant towers and shattered it in an instant; and the illusion of the castle's restoration was gone. The ground shuddered violently as the huge tower collapsed in on its own weight. Maleficent laughed and more bolts of lightning reached down from the circling storm clouds overhead to scar the massive castle with its destructive power.

"Why did you bring us here, Maleficent?" Riku asked coldly.

"Oh, Riku, I simply don't know what you are talking about, dear boy. You were the ones who came through the door between the worlds; I am merely defending what is mine as I see fit."

"Since when does what is yours include Kairi?" Sora demanded.

The evil mage laughed again. "Why, since you brought her to me, of course! This castle and _everything_ in it are mine, you know. I think you will be surprised to learn that your precious Kairi isn't the only thing you treasure that has found its way into my possession, Sora."

The Keyblade was in Sora's hand even before he realized it, but Maleficent only laughed. "Don't be ridiculous, boy. We are in my world now; not only could I have my rather large pet downstairs move his dagger a mere two inches to the right… But I could also bring the bulk of this castle itself to life and have it step on you like the worms you are. In other words, I suppose I _could _kill you now… but I would much rather you go and see what waits for you in the worlds you managed to save from the heartless before."

"Maleficent- why? Why are you doing this? After everything you did to help us against the Organization?"

"You really think I need a reason?" Maleficent threw her head back and laughed again. "Well, then how about this one, Sora? I distinctly remember _dying_ at your hand. I also firmly recall warning you several times that I still intend to have my vengeance- my plans have not changed in regard to you. Next to revenge, greed sounds so trivial… But all the same as you've probably guessed, my castle here isn't terribly comfortable these days. So I _am_ still in the market to acquire another one. Yet there is something of another problem… It seems that there is once again another individual out there who seeks to control my army of heartless and I'd like you to kill him for me."

"Who?" Sora asked Maleficent just grinned, looking quite shark like. "Fine don't tell us, but let Kairi go!"

"I'm afraid that I can't do that. You see, she is one of the seven princesses, and I must confess, I am considering starting another collection of them. After all, thanks to you, I already have a second one in my possession."

"Maleficent, no! Don't do this."

"Those with power use it, Sora that is the very nature of power- it corrupts. But I can assure you, it is far more enjoyable than giving others power over you."

"She's made her choice. Remember that you can't make her listen to you because she has no honor."

"No honor?" The evil sorceress's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Why Riku, my dear friend, I'm surprised at you. I _could_ say you aren't exactly overflowing with the virtues that make Sora so uniquely special either, but then, that would mean I was being _hypocritical_, wouldn't it?"

"You leave Riku alone!" Sora snapped at her. "You have no idea what he went through to help me and the others, so-"

"It's ok, Sora; helping you was worth it. Sometimes to fight evil, you have to become it. I would do what I did in the World That Never Was, all over again, if I had to." Riku assured him. "The only thing I wouldn't do over would be _ever _helping you in the first place, Maleficent! But I know exactly how much evil you are capable of. If you were as powerful as you seem to think, you'd realize that we are destined to stop you again. The heartless _can't_ overpower the Keyblades; you ought to know that by now."

"Boldly spoken, Riku," The evil mage purred. "But can you possibly back up such a brash statement in your present surroundings? I'm afraid that I'm going to have to ask you to leave for a while, as I move along with my plans."

"No!" Sora shouted, already leaping at the sorceress, but she disappeared and he and Riku both found themselves disoriented and tumbling into a dark portal that had appeared under their feet and swallowed them. Maleficent's dark laughter followed them until they slipped into unconsciousness once more.

-Radiant Garden-

"Ah, good evening, my boy…" Merlin's accented voice offered pleasantly, but Leon found himself glaring at the old wizard anyway until he managed to tear his eyes away and moved past him. "I say, didn't Yuffie find you?"

"Yeah," Leon growled quietly.

"Hi!" The king asked in his quiet, caring voice. "Uh, Leon, are you alright?"

"He'll be fine, your majesty." Cid said without turning away from his computer. "So, your Majesty, what brings you all the way back out here?"

King Mickey hesitated to speak for a moment, and then he took a small piece of paper out of his pocket and held it in his lap without unfolding it. "Sometime yesterday night a huge door appeared in Disney Castle and this morning, Donald and Goofy were no where to be found. My Keyblade can't open that door alone; it's far too strongly sealed. I was wondering if you have noticed any new doors too or if you guys have heard from Sora yet?"

"No, everything has been fine here," Leon shook his head. "As for Sora, it seems too quiet without him and his two sidekicks running all over the place."

The King managed a grin. "Yeah, I know Sora looks up to you a lot, Leon. I'm sure he misses all of you too."

"Yeah," Cid nodded, still typing away at his computer. "But I gotta wonder how much longer we have before this place goes to hell again."

"What do you mean?" The king asked worriedly.

"I mean this is where the Heartless invasion originally started- this is where the machines that made the damn things still stand. If there's doors appearing elsewhere, then there will be one here shortly too. Luckily we managed to lock down the facility. And even though the machines can't be destroyed by any normal means, there is still a chance that I can crack the bug before the damn thing can get into the factory controls."

"What do you mean? I was just at the lab an hour ago, Tron said everything is fine." Leon asked.

"I mean that factory just being here gives me the creeps. Y'all mark my words, if someone is starting trouble with the heartless and those damn doors again, then one of their primary targets will be opening up that factory again."

"But how could they? You said you have it locked down."

"I do, for right now," Cid agreed. "But I haven't made much progress on breaking down the code on the bug that has been causing some odd file corruption in Ansem's old Computer. I think it's giving me so much trouble because the bug ain't purely technological in nature. I think it's magical too. I think the Organization made it early on in their research as sort of a fail safe to keep anyone from finding out about what they were doing and either Ansem himself or maybe even Sora accidentally set it loose by pushing the wrong buttons or not knowing the passwords and stuff. I have been able to slow it down so that the bug can't wipe out the system with the speed it was made to possess, but slowly it is creating holes in my barriers. Eventually this bug _will _crash the system as it was designed to do and when we have to reboot it, we could be dealing with the bad MCP and the heartless factory itself both coming back on line. At least until we can get them back under control in Tron's world again."

"I think you are right, Cid," King Mickey nodded. "Since you told me in your letter that you haven't been able to find a way to destroy the machines that make the emblem heartless, I've been more worried about you guys than I wanted to admit. I'm glad that you have the factory sealed off, but I still remember what the heartless did to the Bailey wall. And we know they could do it again in those numbers. This world is luckier than most because you are all such gifted fighters and I'm glad to see that Merlin is still here too. But, I felt like I had to come here first- even before I left to go find Sora and Riku."

"So Sora finally found Riku, huh?" Leon grinned thoughtfully.

"Yep, and Kairi too. Donald and Goofy and I waited for them at their home with Kairi after we all got separated before the final battle with that creep Xemnas. Donald and Goofy and I went back to Disney Castle in the gummy ship the next morning though," King Mickey nodded. "I didn't want to bother them again without checking in with you guys first. After everything Sora has been through, he shouldn't have to be the one that saves us all again."

Leon found himself grinning. "If he were an ordinary kid I'd agree... but he's Sora. And if he wasn't out doing something, he'd go crazy with boredom. I just don't like sitting on the sidelines while he's in so much danger from all sides."

"But Sora has the Keyblade to protect him from the heartless, Leon. Besides, your place is here, leading the people you have given new hope to," Merlin said gently.

King Mickey nodded. "Ansem the Wise was my friend and I know that he would be very proud of you for the work you have done here, in rebuilding and defending this place. It's beautiful and it feels peaceful again, just as it did when I first met Ansem."

"There's still work to be done," Leon shrugged, looking away uncomfortably. "There are still no real gardens yet and the…"

"The beauty I saw here when I first arrived wasn't just in the buildings or the great castle," The tiny king smiled. "The people who live here are smiling because they are proud of where they are from again, Leon. You guys gave that back to them."

"You should think about taking Ansem's place, Leon," Merlin said. "I know that seems hard for you to imagine now, but you are a fine, intelligent man and a brave warrior, both of these things are necessary to create a strong leader in times of great peril."

"No use fighting it, Leon." Cid said, "We'll get you to lead this place into an age of peace eventually. The girls and I- even Merlin and the king here, we _all_ believe you're the right guy for the job."

"Why don't you do it?"

"A dying Chocobo wouldn't follow me to an oasis in the desert, and you know it. I'll be too busy building your space program, gotta get back out there among the stars again, that's where I belong. Besides… we got work to do now, like trying to figure out where the hell this disturbance came from at the top of the village marketplace... for starters. Looks like some kinda portal to me, your majesty; I'll try and pull it up on one of the cameras."

The screen in front of Cid split down the middle, one half remained endless lines of text, still flowing past faster than most people would've been able to read it, but the other half showed a portal of darkness appearing and a fat humanoid dog stepped out of it. The large round bellied thing looked around a little and laughed as he created another portal and disappeared again.

"Pete?" King Mickey gasped. "Cid, can you tell me where he went?"

"Sorry, your majesty, he's already left the town's defense grid, so I can't track him."

"Well, it seems definite that we are dealing with Maleficent again, I'm sure Pete is still doing her bidding..."

"By the ancients…" Cid's voice was soft and shaken as he moved his screen to focus on a different camera, this one at the Bailey. "I never even _dreamed_ I'd ever see _him _again not with my own two eyes at least."

A tall, handsome man dressed in black with long silver hair appeared at the top of the crane. He had glacier blue eyes and one large black feathered wing, and he was there for just a moment before he disappeared too...

"I think I've seen him before… He's the intruder that I found in Ansem's study that one night, a few days after we first opened it up. Who is that, Cid?" Leon asked, puzzled.

"Cloud never told you about Sephiroth? This was the bastard that… Cloud died fighting." Cid shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

"Cloud never told me much of anything."

"I don't understand." King Mickey said, "Who is Cloud?"

"Cloud? Mostly he's a royal pain in the ass," Yuffie grumbled as she entered.

"Now hold on there, missy." Cid growled. "You can't go talking about the guy that saved all of our lives and our whole damned planet that way. Did you happen to see Sephiroth out there just now though? He was at the top of the crane on the Bailey?"

"What? No! But are you saying he's _really_ back? Oh shit! Maybe I shouldn't have left Aerith alone! Cid, you don't think Sephiroth might try to kill her again, do you?"

"Only Cloud would know what is motivating that son of a bitch to show up at a time like this."

Leon looked annoyed and more than a little confused.

"It's uh… kinda complicated, Leon," Yuffie said gently. "It's not that we don't want to tell you. It's just that it hurts to remember what happened because it's so unfair. Sephiroth was trying to destroy our planet, and Cloud stopped him. Tifa get hit by an attack that was meant for Cloud and he went ballistic- because he thought she died. Only Aerith could have saved her, and she did but by then it was too late. Cloud and Sephiroth were both dead- and even Aerith couldn't bring Cloud back... Because he wouldn't _let_ her bring him back."

"So I was right in thinking all this time that you guys really aren't from this world?"

"Maybe we aren't. But we like it here- and you are the reason we've all stayed."

"Why didn't you guys just tell me that when we first met? I don't get it."

"I gave you the watered down version," Yuffie shrugged. "If you want the full story you'll have to get Aerith to tell you."

"It sounds like the story revolves around Cloud to me- and what does it have to do with Aerith anyway?"

"She was the one who didn't want anyone to know what world we came from," Cid grunted. "She's been through more than you think, Leon, so you better be nice when you ask her."

"Cid, you sounded really afraid of Sephiroth. Is he a bigger danger to this world than Pete and Maleficent?" The king asked.

"Your majesty," Cid sighed. "With Sephiroth around the entire _universe_ is in danger. At least Maleficent wants to have something left to rule when she is done."

"You could always go back to your world now- at least to see what's left of it," Leon said.

"I don't think it could ever be the same- too much has happened…" Yuffie shook her head. "And besides, who would be here to keep you from brooding if all of us went home?"

"I was thinking I ought to go with you guys- after everything you three have done to help me here it would be the least I can do."

"Merlin told you that you ought to step up and take over as king, didn't he?" Yuffie giggled, brushing the tears out of her dark eyes. "I told him not to do that yet. Still, there is a lot of neat stuff we could show you after we finish off this heartless invasion too… It would be really fun to show you around Midgar... I think we better keep you and Cloud a safe distance apart though."

"What do you mean?"

"You two are just hopeless, you know that? Cloud said the same thing to me before he left last year… It's your totem spirits dummy- they'll fight like cats and dogs- eventually."

King Mickey laughed. "I know Leon is the lion, but what is Cloud's, I've never met him."

"Spiky's definitely a wolf, your majesty," Yuffie answered. "Headstrong bastard and general pain in the ass that he is, the lone wolf suits him perfectly..."

"Shit! It's Sora!" Cid stood up from his computer so fast that he knocked over the chair. "And, there's somebody with him, Leon, but I don't like this! They ain't moving and the portal they fell out of is getting bigger- something else is coming through it! They ain't even in town- they're all the way over at the postern!"

"Cid, you and Merlin stay here and keep an eye on the rest of the town," Leon nodded to Yuffie and the King stood up too. "We'll go help Sora!"

-Castle Gate-

Cloud felt the disturbance in the planet's natural dark energy field, and recognized one of the arriving presences immediately as Sora. He also sensed that something was wrong… Sora's ki signature was flat and completely inactive- a rare state for him.

Cloud hadn't wanted to be detected arriving on the defense grid, so he had already followed Sephiroth to Radiant Garden but appeared outside of it, near the old Castle gate. Whatever was wrong it wasn't Sephiroth's doing, the bastard was being unusually quiet but there was still no time to waste, Sora was in trouble. Something big was coming through that portal and Sora's weak Ki signature meant something was wrong.

"Not a good way to start your next adventure, kid," Cloud growled to himself summoning his power to move himself to Sora's location. He could feel that Leon and the others were coming, but he also knew they were still too far away to save him.

The postern was crawling with shadows there were dozens of them when he got there. But the real threat was the twenty foot tall emblem heartless that was crouched down and looming over Riku and Sora like an armored angel of death.

The giant heartless saw Cloud and threw its giant dagger with an angry, chattering squeal. Cloud dodged it easily but an identical weapon reappeared in its hand, and it rolled toward him with the agility of a monkey. The heartless picked up the dagger that had missed him and screeched as it came after him with both giant knives. Cloud found he was trapped in a very small space, defending Sora and Riku from the shadows was a full time job while dodging the wickedly agile knife throwing, armored giant monkey too.

No matter how many of the shadows he killed, more just crawled up out of the ground to take their places, so Cloud looked around for the source of the lesser heartless.

Sure enough, he caught sight of what looked like a huge, overweight dog in an outfit that vaguely reminded him of Sora and Riku's. The big creep was crouched down low, hiding among the pipes, and Cloud smirked as he sent a Blade Beam shockwave over there. Then he turned back to the monkey in time to block yet another dagger strike.

"Ouch!" The big humanoid dog shouted angrily. "What the hell was that? Oh Shit- reinforcements! I'm outta here, getting the kid now ain't worth getting killed over! I'll deal with you later, too, pretty boy."

"Yeah, sure you will," Cloud snorted sarcastically.

"Let me guess, that was Pete, wasn't it?" Mickey asked, as he leapt into the fray, his Keyblade striking the giant heartless in the leg.

"Dunno," Cloud shrugged quietly, without pausing in a sword strike that mowed down three shadows and snapped one of the monkey's daggers in half. "He didn't give me his name. But- who are you?"

"I'm Mickey Mouse, King of Disney Castle. Ansem the Wise was my friend, and I guess you must be Cloud," Mickey leapt up and delivered a volley of energy blasts to the face of the giant heartless, which howled angrily and swatted the tiny king to the ground with its broken dagger.

"Yeah," Cloud growled, he had had enough of the heartless' angry chatter. He took a two handed grip on First Sword and lunged forward. The monkey heartless tried to block with its remaining good weapon, but it shattered, and Cloud's attack didn't even slow down. It hit squarely in the armored helmet and continued down; reducing the huge monster to a fizzling cloud of coal black vapor that quickly disappeared.

"I think they're ok," Leon said called out from where he and Yuffie knelt beside the two kids. "Thank god."

"W-woah wipe out… Where are we- Leon? King Mickey- Yuffie- what happened? Cloud, you're here too?" Sora asked.

Riku answered as he stood up. "Maleficent has Kairi at her castle. No not that one, guys- the real one that's in her home dimension. The door that we went through on our island dropped us there. She's learned a new trick with opening portals to the darkness too. I didn't catch how she knocked us out the first time she got us, but I felt it this time, Sora. She used her magic in two ways. First she summoned the portal then she took the oxygen out of the air around us- she could have killed us if she wanted to. Damn that bitch _and_ her magic."

"So, I take it you must be Riku," Leon grinned. "I'm Leon, this is Yuffie…"

Riku's serious countenance brightened a little. "Yeah, Sora's told me all about you guys and Aerith and Cid and Merlin too. I feel sort of like I've been here before because he talks about you guys all the time. Hey there, Mickey. It's good to see you again, your majesty."

"Yes, it's great to see you too. I sure missed you guys," The king said. "But you two really scared the heck out of me! Don't you ever do that again or I'll tell Donald on you, Sora! Gosh, if Cloud hadn't been here…"

Cloud shrugged and looked away. "Forget it- but where _are_ Donald and Goofy anyway?"

"Well," The king looked down. "They've been kidnapped by Maleficent too, just like Kairi."

"I don't get it. How did Maleficent do all of this so quickly? It's only been what- a year? Surely she didn't get this much stronger that fast!" Yuffie demanded.

"She probably had her eye on all of this even while we were still busy with Organization 13," Riku shrugged. "I was one of her pawns for a while, remember? I know how she works. There's no way she'd _ever _show you all of her power unless she's ready to make her move. She's too cunning. She's been around for over a thousand years thanks to her magic. Even pure evil doesn't last that long without having learned when to act and when to just keep an eye on what everyone else is doing. But that isn't the worst of it. Maleficent told us Kairi isn't the only one of the seven Princesses she has kidnapped so far… and I don't think she was bluffing. Princess Aurora is from Maleficent's world."

The King sighed. "Yep, you're right, Riku. I guess we really gave her a head start on us this time, didn't we?"

"Well, what are we all standing around here shaking our heads for?" Sora demanded. "I say we go take them back."

Riku snorted. "She didn't exactly leave us another door to go through, Sora. And I can't command the darkness to make portals through it anymore, remember?"

"At your age you could do that? Amazing- but don't be so sure that you lost the ability all together.…" Cloud chuckled softly. "It probably isn't the talent itself that you've lost; it is just the method of channeling the energy you need has changed somehow."

"What do you mean? I already tried- I couldn't open portals into the darkness anymore after I got changed back into myself again."

Cloud shrugged calmly. "I mean if you can find a new way of unlocking that power then you can probably use it again just like before. You are much stronger than the moron who was giving the heartless their orders a few minutes ago. If he can open one of those portals there's no reason you can't do it too. If I were you I'd try focusing on it through your ki instead of channeling a gate with magic like Pete was doing. It will take a lot of practice but I can feel even now that you have at least as much ki energy as you do magical ability. Your ki draws its strength directly from your will rather than the ambient magic of where you are and where you are going. That should mean it will be able to naturally stabilize any gate that you create and make it so that Maleficent's new trick won't work on you again."

"Wait a minute, Cloud are you serious? That could be way more dangerous in practice than it sounds in theory. I mean, using ki to open a portal into darkness… that would mean he would be using _dark _ki..."

"Sure Leon, but do you really think the two of them jumping into the darkness in the first place without being able to create a way out of it isn't? Look, Maleficent didn't _have_ to give them an exit point you know. Why would she let them go at all when she knows they are the biggest danger to her plans?"

"What do you mean- if she wants to try and claim Kingdom Hearts again she needs to have the Keyblades around…" The king asked.

"Yes but if you remember the last tournament, Sora has grown into very talented fighter. If she killed them, their Keyblades would have to choose new wielders who would be far less capable of giving her trouble while they kill off her army for her."

"I never thought about that before… but I think she's bored," Sora said quietly. "I think she's been around for so long that she's just doing this for something to do as much as to get revenge."

"Oh! Why don't the bad guys ever take up gardening or knitting? Or maybe stamp collecting?" Yuffie grumbled, kicking a nearby rock.

"Because if they were into that we wouldn't think of them as the _bad_ guys, now would we?" Riku growled sarcastically.

Sora giggled, shaking his head. "Nice one Riku…"

**Author's note**: Working on this story again after so long is still fun!!


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